The present invention relates generally to holsters for firearms and to a method of manufacturing such holsters, and is particularly concerned with a holster having a spine.
Holsters are typically constructed using several basic techniques. For example, some holsters are constructed using spaced, separate sidewall panels which are sewn or otherwise attached to one another along their front and rear edges to form a unitary handgun receiving cavity. In some cases, a single piece of material is folded to form the spaced side walls with a fold at the front or rear of the handgun receiving cavity, and the free edges of the side walls are sewn or otherwise fastened together at the opposite end of the cavity to form a welt or seam.
Some examples of holsters employing stitching at the front or rear seam, or both, are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,546,774 of Ohlemeyer and 4,846,383 of Gallagher. Ohlemeyer discloses a holster with a front fold and a rear, stitched seam. A front sight receiving channel is incorporated into the front fold, either inside or outside of the holster cavity. U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,383 of Gallagher also describes a holster with a rear stitched seam and spaced side walls, with an elongate deformable spine at the front end of the cavity in which the forward ends of the side walls are engaged. The deformable spine is used to allow the front fold of the holster to conform more readily to the shape of the of the upper elongate surface of the handgun.
Stitching has some drawbacks when used to close the holster at the welt area. Where the holster is made of stiff, heavy leather, a heavy duty, harness-type stitching or sewing machine must be used, which is an expensive piece of machinery requiring a skilled operator. In addition to the actual stitching, associated tasks such as gluing and finishing the seams prior to and after stitching must be carried out, making holster manufacture a very labor intensive operation. Thus, holster manufacturers have sought to eliminate or at least reduce the labor-intensive operations typical of holster manufacture for many years, with little success. Even when the holster is made of softer fabric material, a similar construction is often used, with sewing machines or other types of fastener employed to close the holster seam or seams.
Another disadvantage in holsters in which seams are formed by stitching is that the welt stitching may fail in certain situations, particularly in key stress points of the holster. Thus, for example, during a struggle between a police officer and an assailant for the officer's handgun, stress is typically placed on the holster at the seams or welts. It is therefore important that the welt areas of the holster are strong enough to resist the resultant stresses. This has led to reinforcements being built into holsters at the key stress points, such as welts and double stitching or rivets to help prevent the ripping of the stitches at a very critical point in the holster. This increased structure and complexity has led to significant increases in the cost of holsters, which can now sometimes cost as much as some of the handguns to be carried in such holsters. Even with stitching and rivets, these holsters still fail on occasion.
In the event that a traditionally stitched holster needs to be disassembled for servicing, such as when a key component inside has failed or needs replacement or repair, it must be cut open prior to the repair and re-stitched after completion. Thus, servicing or repair of such holsters is typically very expensive. Additionally, holsters are easily damaged during such repairs, even when performed by an experienced holster maker, to the point where the repaired holster may be unacceptable to a discriminating user.
Additional structures are often incorporated in holsters, such as sight protection devices along the front of the handgun receiving cavity and handgun retention or gripping devices which are typically incorporated inside the cavity along the rear of the holster.
Although holsters made of soft fabric rather than leather and metal or hard plastic are typically of lower cost and easier to construct, the lower cost is achieved at the sacrifice of rigidity and associated performance and life of the product.
Increased rigidity of holsters, especially for use by uniformed police and other law enforcement officers, has been much sought-after to increase both the life and security of the holster, and to increase the performance of both the holster and the officer. However, some materials that provide such rigidity, such as hard plastic, are typically unsuited to stitching due to their brittle nature. Plastics and other such materials which will accept stitching can be prone to breakage at the stitch points during use. This has led to some manufacturers making such rigid holsters with a minimum of structural stitching, instead employing fasteners such as screws or rivets.
The present trend to incorporate more molded plastic parts into holsters, either in its components or as the holster body itself, has led to improved performance and product lifetime but at a substantial cost. The increased costs are due to the relatively high costs of molds and the resulting parts, when compared with other more conventional processes using traditional leather or other rigid materials such as plastic.